


Not Malignant

by tuesday



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Magical Pregnancy, Mpreg, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 20:43:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20020741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesday/pseuds/tuesday
Summary: First, Stephen thought he was ill.  Intermittent nausea, fatigue, general feelings of malaise.  He was too busy to be sick.  He ignored it.





	Not Malignant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snickfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snickfic/gifts).



> I'm so glad you signed up! I hope you enjoy this extra gift.

First, Stephen thought he was ill. Intermittent nausea, fatigue, general feelings of malaise. He was too busy to be sick. He ignored it. 

Next, he thought he was seriously ill. He hadn't noticed before, but when he was in the shower, running the washcloth down his body, he realized he hadn't just put on weight. The gentle bump on his stomach was firmer than it should be. Obviously, he had a tumor.

Finally, he realized he was pregnant.

"Only you," Christine said, pulling off her gloves.

"Hm. Not malignant," Stephen said thoughtfully as he wiped off the gel for the ultrasound. On second thought, "Or at least, it's probably not malignant. I'll have to do some research to be sure."

"You do that." Christine sounded fond despite herself. 

"Thank you," Stephen said very belatedly. If he kept having weird magical medical emergencies, he was going to have to look into getting back hospital privileges. Then again, this wasn't an emergency. Not yet, anyway.

"You're welcome." Christine binned the gloves. "Good luck with your whole magical pregnancy thing."

—

"Only you," Wong said—because apparently that was the sort of response Stephen evoked in people these days—but it was with a disgusted sort of weariness.

"Just tell me it's not a creature from the Dark Dimension finding its way into ours through some sort of portal in my stomach," Stephen said. His research had been more like reading a series of horror stories he was potentially about to star in.

"Are you feeling any sudden mood swings that include the desire to murder the people around you and bathe in their blood while shrieking songs to the stars?" Wong asked.

"No." Minor mood swings, but nothing to write home about. He'd had much worse during a stressful day at work back when he was a surgeon. 

"Then it's probably not that. There's a whole host of symptoms you don't have. It looks like you're just pregnant."

" _How?_ "

"Magic," Wong said flatly.

Magic was another way to view the world. It contained wonders. Stephen had accomplished great things with it.

But sometimes he really hated it.

—

Stephen threw himself back into research. It was something he was good at. Things were quiet for once. Usually, he'd take the time to expand his repertoire, learn more theory, look up the answers to questions he'd thought up in between the duties and demands of being the Sorcerer Supreme.

Now, he was mentally going back to med school. Much of what he found wasn't useful to him. Some of it was.

"I need the name of a good ob-gyn," Stephen told Christine. He wasn't up on medical gossip, and he'd mostly ignored the fields that held no personal interest to him. "Local preferred, but I can go further afield."

"You decided to keep it?" Christine asked.

"I'm keeping my options open," Stephen said noncommittally. He rested a hand over the gentle swell of his stomach. It was weird, but it was growing on him.

"I'll ask around. But you know they're going to have trouble with the whole—" Christine waved a hand. "—magic pregnancy thing, right?" 

"I'm aware this may be outside their area of expertise," Stephen said. But unfortunately, some things were beyond one man alone, and he wasn't exactly going to be able to perform his own c-section if it came to that.

—

Wong had taken to watching Stephen when they were in the same room. He wasn't obvious about it. He didn't stare. He hadn't changed his behavior in general, wasn't any more or less solicitous. He didn't show any signs of disgust now that Stephen was beginning to show to the point it was obvious he was actually pregnant, rather than having put on a few pounds.

But when Stephen glanced over, more often than not, Wong was faced in his direction, body angled toward Stephen's side of the room. Sometimes, Stephen caught Wong sneaking covert glances at Stephen's midriff. Once or twice, he'd seen what looked like an expression of outright longing.

Stephen sighed and closed the book he'd been reading. "Would you like to touch it?"

"Yes, please," Wong said, standing quickly and coming over like the only thing that had been holding him back was the lack of implicit permission.

Stephen stood, too, so that Wong wouldn't be looming over him. Wong's hands were gentle against Stephen's belly, but firm. Wong's gaze was intent as he looked down at it. He smiled softly to himself.

"Kind of weird, huh?" Stephen said.

"It's amazing," Wong said in a warm voice. His smile suddenly vanished. He straightened, removing his hands, and cleared his throat. "It looks like it's doing fine. Very healthy."

"I've been taking my neonatal vitamins," Stephen said. He waved a hand at the book. "I better get back to it."

"Right." Wong jerked a thumb at his desk. "Me, too."

"Right." Stephen sat. He opened his book. He snuck his own covert glances now.

_Huh,_ he thought.

—

Extradimensional terror monsters tried to invade. Stephen beat them back. Pretty typical Sunday. Things were heating up again.

"Have you thought about cutting back?" Christine asked. She gestured with her fork. They were having their now monthly dinner and catching up. They used to split a bottle of wine between them, but tonight she'd ordered a single glass. "Maybe delegating some?"

"There's no one to delegate to," Stephen said. He took a sip of water. "Really, the worst part isn't the fighting. I can cast in place. It's the new people I'm trying to train so that I _can_ delegate who keep rushing into danger like it will impress me. It was easier when I was an enigma they were trying to figure out. It kept them busy. Apparently pregnancy has humanized me enough that reckless expressions of hero worship could sneak in."

"You're sure they're trying to impress you?" Christine speared another piece of lasagna.

"You're right. They could just be incompetent." Stephen wondered if this was how Wong felt all the time.

"I feel so safe knowing you and a handful of apprentices are all that stand between this universe and annihilation."

"There's also Wong," Stephen said.

Apparently something in his voice betrayed him, because Christine's eyes sharpened. She looked at Stephen. Stephen looked calmly back, doing his best to project _We're not talking about this._

Christine raised her eyebrows, but she just stuck to a small smile and changed the subject. "On the topic of incompetent apprentices, did I tell you about the new residents?"

—

Moving was getting significantly more difficult. To make things worse, a chair he'd once loved had become a mortal enemy when it refused to relinquish him from its plush grip. The Cloak of Levitation fluttered worriedly about beside him. Stephen thought he was maybe going to have to portal his way out of this.

"Don't be overdramatic," Wong said as he tried to help Stephen up. "You'll get used to the new center of balance in no time."

"I'm not saying we have to get rid of the chair," Stephen said as he finally made his way upright. He stumbled against Wong's side, and Wong steadied him. "I'm just saying I never want to see it again."

Stephen should move away. He'd gotten his feet under him. He could let go of Wong now. 

"So what did you need again?" Stephen asked. 

"Nothing. I heard your cries for help from all the way up in the library."

Then again, it wasn't like Wong was letting Stephen go, either. One of his hands was wrapped around Stephen's forearm. The other was splayed out across his hip. It squeezed gently, a reassurance at odds with the way Wong's expression was carefully blank.

"They weren't cries for help," Stephen said. He had a hand on Wong's shoulder, which was firmer than Stephen had expected. Carrying books apparently had done some very nice things for him.

"Are you saying it was the Cloak?" Wong said. His expression was skeptical now.

"It was more of a brief call for assistance." Not even the Cloak looked like it bought that. "Wong—"

"Yes?" Wong said expectantly.

Wong was very attractive. Stephen was attracted to him. It was one of those things that, like magic, once known could not be unknown. He even smelled nice, a little like incense that some of the students burned for the ambiance, but also like vanillin and clean soap. Stephen hadn't expected this to be a bonus of his pregnancy-induced heightened sense of smell, but here he was, breathing Wong in and trying not to lean in the couple inches necessary to make his attraction clear. 

It wasn't convenient. Wong was his friend and the only person standing between Stephen and having to deal with all the baby sorcerers personally. It would be foolish to sacrifice that on the off chance that Wong's nascent fascination with Stephen's body was something more than curiosity over a rare magical phenomena brought about by a confluence of events that probably couldn't be replicated on purpose. What had happened to Stephen—was still happening to Stephen—was weird. That's all it was.

Stephen released Wong's shoulder and took a step back. "Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," Wong said as he let Stephen go.

—

Stephen was hugely pregnant. He was full of an unspeakable gratitude for how accommodating the robes were. He was beyond ready for his c-section.

"You have another month," Wong told him. 

"I don't think I can take another week," Stephen said. The Cloak was draped across him like a cuddly blanket. He had a mug of tea at his elbow. He was in a chair he'd never previously liked, but which was his favorite now by dint of standing high enough that he could get up without assistance. "Ugh, my back is killing me. The next time we're invaded by mystical forces from another world, maybe I should let them eat us."

"Eternal digestion by the Rings of the Undying would be worse than a little back pain," Wong said in the same way someone else would say, _Suck it up_. The meaning was clear.

"I should go back into medicine. Become a consultant on the side. Then, I could afford to hire a masseuse." Stephen closed his eyes, imagining it. It was kind of horrible, actually. The thought of consulting instead of being able to do anything directly was a special kind of nightmare. 

"Did you want a back rub?" Wong asked.

"Yes. I just said that." 

Hands at his shoulders were a surprise. Stephen opened his eyes, and there was Wong, standing beside the chair and leaning across to rub Stephen's back.

"You're perfect," Stephen said. Then, "A bit lower."

Moments like these were almost enough to make Stephen forget why he'd decided not to say anything. Wong moved his hands lower, and Stephen groaned, helpless with relief as Wong's skilled fingers dug into tense muscle.

Wong made a considering noise in turn, but he didn't stop. He kept going until Stephen was slumped forward in his chair making helpless little noises of happiness.

"Perfect," Stephen repeated reverently when it was over. He was exhausted and he thought he might be able to sleep now.

"You can ask me for things," Wong said quietly as he helped Stephen stand. He smiled slightly. "Doesn't mean I'll say yes, but you can ask."

Stephen was just tired enough to let slip, "I don't think you'd say yes."

"You'll never know until you actually ask." Wong stuck with him all the way up the stairs. He didn't tuck Stephen in, but he did run his hand down Stephen's spine one last time, like an affectionate owner stroking a cat.

Stephen decided he would think about it in the morning. He went into his room, climbed laboriously into bed, and went to sleep.

—

Stephen thought about it. He went down to breakfast. After he'd eaten, he tracked down Wong and said, "I want to ask, but I don't want to make things awkward."

"Because you never make things awkward," Wong said. He put down the books he'd been reshelving.

That was a fair point. "I enjoy your company. I'm attracted to you. We lead busy lives. When I'm not terribly pregnant, I'm widely considered attractive myself." Stephen gave a self-deprecating smile. "I think you've come to enjoy my company, too."

Wong had that unreadable expression again. "I'm not hearing a question in there."

"Would you like to go out some time? Or stay in, because I'm about to become a single parent and I don't imagine I'll be doing much going out when I'm not busy with our work here."

"You're wrong," Wong said calmly. He picked up one of the books from the table and slotted it onto a nearby shelf. "You're still attractive."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Wong smiled. It looked good on him. "Yes. _After_ I'm done working."

—

That night, Wong proved firsthand exactly how attractive he found Stephen when he was eight and a half months pregnant.

—

"I'm not in obstetrics," Christine said. "I'm willing to be there as a friend, but I'm not scrubbing in."

"Come on. It took me months to get Dr. Raj to come around on the magical pregnancy thing, and the man saw me naked. I need someone there who won't be concerned if Wong has to jump in and lend a hand."

"When you got your privileges back, I thought I was done with this sort of thing." That was resignation. Stephen was winning.

He pressed his advantage. "I'll buy dinner."

"I'm buying dinner. But fine. I'll see what I can do." Christine cut into her steak aggressively. "But in return, I expect you to tell me about you and Wong."

"It's new. I like him." Stephen couldn't help a small, soft smile. "I think it'll work out."

—

(It did.)


End file.
